Driving efficient growth is a top priority for CMOs. However, unpredictable customer behavior, inflation, and geopolitical instability make it challenging for CMOs to facilitate efficient development.
CMOs must adopt effective strategies to foster efficient growth and mitigate these challenges. The volatile environment requires CMOs to relentlessly focus on going digital to create customer value and achieve cross-functional goals. Here are three major trends affecting CMOs, some recommended actions, and top priorities they must consider.
Top Three Challenges Affecting CMOs
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Increase in Uncertainties Due to Shifting Customer Behavior
From buying habits and preferences to the channels they use to engage with the brand, shifting behavior creates uncertainties for the company. It makes it challenging for businesses to predict the impacting changes, make meaningful decisions, and set future strategies.
Amidst economic uncertainties and inflation, customer demand and purchasing behavior fluctuate unpredictably. As per a recent report by Gartner, “Chief Marketing Officer Leadership Vision 2023”, 30% of the consumers are buying store brands while 27% are buying name brand products. These statistics challenge the brands to maintain brand loyalty, premiums, and preference.
As buyers restrain their data, businesses must track demand or initiate response efficiently with multichannel engagement, which is challenging for CMOs. At the same time, the technical and regulatory policies regarding consumer data privacy, like cookie less browsers and updated privacy features, make digital marketing strategies outdated.
Also Read: Innovative Growth Hacking Strategies for Rapid Business Expansion
Recommended Action
Businesses must stay vigilant and determine changes in customer behavior. They must prepare to adopt these changes to maintain a robust competitive edge. CMOs must establish a digital customer value exchange to offer value on digital channels across a complete cross-channel journey.
At the same time, they must improve the effectiveness of digital marketing by finding more opportunities for tailored engagements that will help customers across their journeys.
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Substantial Collaboration Between Numerous Departments/Functions
Complexities in cross-functional collaboration lead to unpredictable outcomes making it challenging for multiple departments to function closely. It adversely affects the overall performance and success of the organization. Complexities might include friction in priorities, lack of resources, and communication breakdowns.
Top marketing priorities like customer experience (CX), digital commerce, and innovation have shifted from their functional boundaries and are now an enterprise-wide priority. This transition may draw funding away from the marketers. Waiting for the budgets to return to pre-pandemic levels and heavy taxes overwhelming the marketing team hinders overall performance against crucial marketing goals.
Recommended Action
CMOs must build better team structures to promote cross-functional operating models. They must plan to streamline operations and evaluate common key performance indicators (KPIs). Lastly, orchestrating messaging throughout the customer experience offers better effectiveness in marketing, sales, and other customer-facing concerns.
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Disorderly Market and Audience Dynamics Restrict Traditional Brand Value Pathways
When the driving forces influencing the market become unstable and disorderly, it can weaken the traditional brand value pathways. Disorderly market dynamics make the traditional brand value less effective.
Evolving driving forces like raised audience expectations, disruptive market entrants, and traditional brand value sources like positive brand value sentiments and brand reach are under constant pressure. Additionally, disruptive market entrants need brands to position themselves to stay competitive. It challenges all brands to create and support awareness via innovative strategies and effective channels.
Recommended Action
CMOs must know and adapt to changing market dynamics to maintain and enhance their brand value. They must actively demonstrate and redefine the brand value investments in a volatile ecosystem.
Top Three Priorities for CMOs
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Data Privacy and Security
With advancing technology, data security and privacy have become apparent. CMOs must ensure they set best practices to secure customer data by implementing adequate security and policies. They must use secure collection and storage methods to protect customer data from theft or unauthorized access.
At the same time, CMOs must implement scrutinized data access controls to ensure that only authorized personnel have access to sensitive customer data. Moreover, CMOs must also understand data privacy and security laws to comply with privacy regulations like GDPR.
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Adoption of a Data-driven Approach
Resonating with new trends and data regulation changes is challenging. CMOs must stay ahead and lead their company to success. Here is how-
Digital Transformation
Digital transformation is a must. Not embracing digital transformation strategies increases the risk of losing market share and revenue. How can CMOs benefit from digital transformation initiatives?
They must implement a CRM system, invest in AI/ML, use a data analytics platform, set up a digital marketing strategy, and adopt cloud-based technologies.
First-Party Data and Privacy
First-party customer offers valuable insights into their behavior, preferences, and interest. However, collecting and tracking customer behavior online is difficult due to changes in data regulations. How can CMOs overcome this challenge?
They must create a first-party data strategy by investing in new tech and solutions to track and analyze customer preferences without relying on cookies. They must establish strong customer relationships and earn trust via transparent privacy policies. Businesses can also offer rewards or incentives for data sharing and collaborate with other companies that might have access to extensive first-party data.
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Drive High-Quality Traffic and Customer Engagement
With lower attention spans, it is hard for businesses to earn customer loyalty. Here is how they can achieve high-quality traffic and customer engagement.
Also Read: How Performance-Driven Full-funnel Marketing is Key to Growth in Disruptive Times
Lead Generation and SEO
Businesses must incorporate the first-party data strategy in their SEO and lead generation strategies to enhance customer experience and visibility. The integration helps companies to understand their customers and personalize their efforts better.
Moreover, if customers previously had terrible experiences with the brand, they might hesitate to share their data. CMOs must focus on enhancing customer service. They must use first-party data for optimizing landing pages and targeting effective lead-generation channels.
Hyper-personalization and Cross-channel Journey
CMOs must elevate the customer experience by using AI and ML to personalize customer interactions. Businesses must develop digital skills to give customers personalized attention by sending them tailored product recommendations, custom email campaigns, and interactive content. By placing the customers at the core of the marketing strategy, businesses can identify new opportunities.
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